Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a treatment for patients with chronic kidney disease. In PD, the peritoneum in the abdomen of a dialysis patient acts as a membrane across which fluids and dissolved substances are exchanged with blood. Dialysate solution enters the abdomen through an access site implemented as a permanent catheter tube, and after some time (e.g., a few hours), the dialysate becomes saturated with waste and is eventually drained through the catheter and out to a drain bag. PD patients typically perform dialysis themselves, in a regular exchange throughout the day (known as Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis, or CAPD) and/or overnight (known as Continuous Cyclic Peritoneal Dialysis, or CCPD) while the patient is asleep.
There are typically three components in a system for PD, including an indwelling catheter surgically implanted in the abdomen of the patient, disposable tubing (typically “Y-set” tubing) that transfers fresh dialysate solution from a dialysate source (and/or saturated waste fluid to a drain bag), and an extension catheter (sometimes referred to as the transfer set) that connects the indwelling catheter to the Y-set. Since the extension catheter is the primary connection site and typically includes an open port via a luer lock, the extension catheter is frequently exposed to the external environment and therefore is at an elevated risk of contamination. Standard conventional protocol for disinfection during PD, which includes numerous steps, is complicated and lacks full patient compliance. For at least these reasons, a patient undergoing PD is highly susceptible to infection that may lead to sepsis or other health complications.
Thus, there is a need in the medical field to create a new and useful system and method for disinfecting or sterilizing a catheter system. This invention provides such a new and useful system and method.